Microsoft SharePoint® is a family of software products developed by Microsoft Corporation for collaboration, file sharing and web publishing. The Microsoft SharePoint® Server is one of these products.
As depicted in FIG. 1, a Microsoft SharePoint® Server (hereinafter, “Server”) is generally composed of three major tiers or logical layers: 1.) a Web Front End layer 102 which processes HTTP requests to the Server; 2.) An application layer 104 which provides such features as Search and Excel Services; and, 3.) A dedicated Microsoft SQL Server data storage 106.
While SharePoint® users can access SharePoint® functionality through multiple methods, the primary user interface is a web-based application accessed through a browser. The majority of SharePoint®'s functionality is supported across all major desktop web browsers.
SharePoint® can also be accessed through: a Windows-based synchronized desktop client, Windows 7 Federated Search, WebDAV “Internet folders” (i.e. via Windows Explorer), Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office 2010, and other third party applications. Corporate directory security restrictions may be applied at a granular level, enabling SharePoint® sites to be internet-facing, intranet-facing, or both.
However, with the power and convenience of portable computing devices such as tablet computers increasing, mobile applications directed to a specific function are increasing as well. Mobile applications are typically designed and coded to solve very specific problems or perform very specific functions. For example, an email application is only capable of handling email, and if one were to inspect the source code for such an application he would see explicit references to “subject”, “from” and “to” data fields, SMTP protocols, and email servers. This specializations forces a company to purchase many different specialized applications and results in high third party software costs as these applications are acquired.